Fifty Things You Need To Know About British History

Fifty Things You Need To Know About British History
Hugh Williams

What are the 50 key events you need to understand to grasp British history?If you could choose the 50 things that define British history, events of significance not only in themselves, but in their importance to wider themes running through our past, what would they be? Hugh Williams has made that selection, and the result is a fascinating overview of Britain’s past.He refines British history into a series of key themes that represent a crucial strand in our history, and pinpoints the seminal events within those strands - Roots, from the Roman invasion to Britain’s entry into the Common Market; Fight, Fight and Fight Again, from the Battle of Agincourt to the Falklands War; The Pursuit of Liberty, from the Magna Carta through the Glorious Revolution to the foundation of the NHS; Home and Abroad, from Sir Francis Drake and Clive of India to the arrival of the SS Empire Windrush; and All Change, from Chaucer and the English language to the invention of the web.With great clarity, simplicity and a zest for the marvellous stories that underpin many of these events, Hugh Williams explains the linkage between each one and its importance in the progress of British history as a whole. Along the way, he has some fascinating tales to tell, making this a highly enjoyable read as well as a perceptive insight into our shared past, and vital for anyone who wants quickly and enjoyably to grasp the essential facts about Britain’s history.

Fifty Things You Need to Know About British History

Hugh Williams

Contents

Title Page (#u6536f283-350e-58f8-b981-1a55373bda1a)

Introduction (#u58447a91-cf10-5e82-9e47-ff61d71733f5)

Chronology (#u4f11b14c-0eea-51a2-a11e-becd17fae603)

PART 1 Roots: The Origins of Britain (#u91db1b8b-30c2-510e-9e63-bf599c38ebf6)

Introduction (#u8c735d6c-59f7-5dcd-865b-cfa8b9e42780)

1 Stonehenge 3100 to 2200 BC (#uf02436bc-4bab-55d1-8c82-0d2206794e68)

2 The Roman Invasion of Britain 43 AD (#u22c118ad-1ec8-5260-9041-c46b4ddb3821)

3 Saint Augustine Arrives in Britain 597 AD (#ua8fe63b8-4349-5ab4-bcbd-37c34b553749)

4 Alfred the Great Becomes King of Wessex 871 AD (#u7fd497bf-7405-5d5f-9e2a-1e976df73ba9)

5 The Battle of Hastings 1066 (#u1ab29d89-fe10-5f77-9d65-220d23608951)

6 The Dissolution of the Monasteries 1536 (#uf05fdb9d-fb10-5482-91b1-71a089fdac73)

7 The Birth of William Shakespeare 1564 (#uddf6fd77-938c-50fd-aabf-71cc0cc5458b)

8 The Act of Union 1707 (#u02ce5cc1-0611-52ae-85f9-699414b92e25)

9 The Irish Home Rule Bill 1886 (#u6fd4e6a2-6e2e-5d3b-9ba3-abc60c465710)

10 Britain Signs the Treaty of Rome 1973 (#u38037a55-2828-5240-a906-51bb60789db3)

PART 2 Struggle: The Battles for Britain (#ua4f513d9-5d92-5283-a53f-3c4b45b425f7)

Introduction (#u7901a46f-6790-5a90-a4d5-a1c211bd2c63)

1 The Battle of Agincourt 1415 (#ucb518697-3a6a-5dea-ac17-f61336e481e1)

2 The Battle of Bosworth 1485 (#u36915976-c182-5ca9-ac3d-510836d2b920)

3 The Spanish Armada 1588 (#litres_trial_promo)

4 The Battle of Naseby 1645 (#litres_trial_promo)

5 The Battle of Blenheim 1704 (#litres_trial_promo)

6 The Battle of Trafalgar 1805 (#litres_trial_promo)

7 The Battle of Waterloo 1815 (#litres_trial_promo)

8 The Battle of the Somme 1916 (#litres_trial_promo)

9 The Battle of Britain 1940 (#litres_trial_promo)

10 The Battle of Goose Green 1982 (#litres_trial_promo)

PART 3 The Sea: Britain at Home and Abroad (#litres_trial_promo)

Introduction (#litres_trial_promo)

1 Sir Francis Drake and the Circumnavigation of the Globe 1577–1580 (#litres_trial_promo)

2 The Voyage of the Pilgrim Fathers 1620 (#litres_trial_promo)

3 The South Sea Bubble 1711–1720 (#litres_trial_promo)

4 The Battle of Plassey 1757 (#litres_trial_promo)

5 The Surrender of the British Army at Yorktown, Virginia 1781 (#litres_trial_promo)

6 The Abolition of Slavery 1833 (#litres_trial_promo)

7 The Afghanistan Massacre 1842 (#litres_trial_promo)

8 The Discovery of the Victoria Falls by David Livingstone 1855 (#litres_trial_promo)

9 The Partition of India 1947 (#litres_trial_promo)

10 The Arrival of the ss Empire Windrush at Tilbury Docks 1948 (#litres_trial_promo)

PART 4 Freedom: The Pursuit of Liberty (#litres_trial_promo)

Introduction (#litres_trial_promo)

1 Magna Carta 1215 (#litres_trial_promo)

2 The Peasants’ Revolt 1381 (#litres_trial_promo)

3 The Gunpowder Plot 1605 (#litres_trial_promo)

4 The Execution of Charles I 1649 (#litres_trial_promo)